


Where They Wander

by A_M_Kelley



Category: Silent Hill
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe, Angst, Disturbing Themes, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Minor Violence, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-04
Updated: 2012-10-29
Packaged: 2017-11-13 13:49:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_M_Kelley/pseuds/A_M_Kelley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex wakes up in a place he was told never to go to, but something draws him there whether it's real or imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome

Alex's eyes snapped open to the decayed walls of his current location and the taste of metal was in his mouth. Blood. There was a distinct smell in the air that made Alex want to vomit and as he rose up from the ground he felt the floor move as if something was squirming beneath his hand.

Alex was a little less than grateful to still have his flashlight on him because, to his dismay, when he clicked it on he found out why the floor was moving. Maggots were covering an area on the ground and when Alex raised the flashlight up higher he stumbled back and fell to the ground again. It was a person (what was left of them, at least) covered in blood and maggots and the stench...

How absolutely horrendous.

It was terrible. It was like seeing it made it smell ten times worse than before and Alex raised his free hand to cup it over his nose and mouth, not wanting to breathe any more of it in. He didn't move from his spot. He couldn't. Alex examined the body tentatively, pointing the flashlight at different angles to get a more clear view.

But it was no use. Alex couldn't tell if it was a woman or a man. The body seemed to be that of a kid and skinned over more than half of it's body and it was terribly mangled in barbwire, like a present would be with a bow. But this wasn't any present Alex would ask for.

He pointed the flashlight's beam around the rest of the room to see where exactly he was at. There were mirrors, sinks, and stalls. Okay, so he was in a bathroom obviously, possibly a rest stop, but that didn't explain how he had got here or why there was a mangled body before him. Alex couldn't remember anything from before but he felt damp like he had jumped into water.

Alex scanned the mostly rotted walls to see a few random scraps of paper that had unintelligible scribblings on them, along with a drawing of a pink rabbit in a field of flowers. The rabbit was dead and the sky was red. Alex didn't know whether it was crayon or blood. Next to the drawing was a heart carved into a clear spot on the wall, with the initials: JS + MS.

He pointed the beam back to where the body was, but it was gone. The blood too.

"What the hell?!" Alex whispered to himself.

His stomach started to turn and he bolted for the exit, heaving and up chucking the contents of his stomach onto the pavement. Alex was bent over hurling and retching for god knows how long, mind reeling from what just happened in there. This couldn't be real, he thought to himself. Things like that aren't possible. That person was dead.

When he mustered up the strength, Alex collected himself and tried not to think of the horrible taste in his mouth. Alex wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand and his bottom lip stung. He prodded it with his tongue and hissed. His lip was busted. He can remember splitting it.

Alex looked around. It was foggy and no major monuments could be seen, even his father's car was barely noticeable. He trotted over to the vehicle to find that the door was ajar and Josh was nowhere to be found.

Josh had been with him... Right?

There was a drawing on the passenger's seat, depicting a child alone on a swing set and there was no doubt Josh left it behind for Alex to find. But where was Josh? How the hell did they end up here? Where was HERE? Alex scrunched the drawing in his hand and something behind him snapped, like someone had stepped on a twig.

Alex spun around on his feet and a glimpse of a shadowy figure escaped his line of vision into the obscurity of the fog. His first thought was Josh, so Alex took of running in the general direction of the shadowy figure to see if it really was Josh. He even called after him as if it was his little brother.

"Josh! Is that you?" Alex yelled. "Josh!"

He ran until he was short of breath and panting, stopping to take a look at where he was lead to. When had he gotten into town? What town was it? Too many questions with no answers. It was like Alex was in a dream or had hit his head too hard and he couldn't wake up. He felt disoriented and nauseous, leaving him to second guess his choice of following the figure.

There was a diner nearby and Alex caught movement when he stepped closer, approaching it with caution and light steps. The figure twitched snapped around like it was convulsing, the jerky movements becoming more clear as was the being.

"Josh?" Alex said, reaching a hand out through the fog.

But it wasn't Josh. It wasn't even human. It had no arms and the feet it staggered on were crooked. The body was covered what looked like blisters or even boils, glowing a red orange as if it was on fire. The thing's mouth opened to reveal the same burning glow and let out a howl.

Alex staggered back and fell to the ground with a thud, inching back on his elbows as if to get away but too paralyzed to get up and run away. It jerked closer and as it inhaled sharply it exhaled to spew a black gas towards Alex, almost burning him. But there was a loud ringing in Alex's ears as a shot was fired onto the creature.

The power of the bullet knocked it further away from Alex and the next two shots finished it off with no hesitation in between. Alex was panting hard as he recovered from his mini heart attack and just stared at the crumpled form on the ground in front of him. There was no doubt in his mind that the creature had been killed. But by who?

A man stalked up to Alex and aimed the gun at him, cocking it to show he meant business and that he wasn't afraid to shoot. Not that he needed to prove anything after ruthlessly killing whatever the fuck he did kill. Alex had just been saved and now he was at the mercy of this man.

""Who are you?" The blonde man questioned, aim not wavering one bit.

"Alex. Alex Shepherd," he said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"You're looking for someone aren't you? Someone close to you. Isn't that right?" The man mocked, almost sounding as if he despised the suggestion himself.

"Look, I don't know where I am or who you are or why I'm even here, but there's something not right here."

"You don't think I know that? I just saved your ass from one of the locals and you think I have no clue?" The man asked, agitation bubbling up in his voice and about three seconds from shooting Alex.

"I'm sorry," Alex gushed. "I just want some answers. I'm human just like you."

The blonde man lowered his gun and smirked, putting it away for a target more dangerous than some naive man. He stuck his hand out to Alex and pulled him to his feet when he took his hand, grunting when his arm was strained by Alex's weight.

"James Sunderland," the blonde man said to Alex, shaking his hand.

"What the hell is going on here? What is this place?" Alex questioned.

"It's where the guilty come to die," James answered. "The sooner you accept your fate, the sooner you get what you're looking for."

James cast a gaze over at the monster on the ground as if showing it silent pity or perhaps disgust. Alex couldn't tell which. James turned back to Alex and gave him a warm welcoming.

"Welcome to Silent Hill, Alex Shepherd."


	2. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex questions his reality and James is more than plentiful with information.

James had a lot of rules about living in Silent Hill and Alex was quick to learn them all before the week was up. Although, Alex didn't plan on staying in this town for a week. He just needed to find Josh then he'd be on his way and far away from this place, if it'd let him leave, that is. It was strange, Alex thought, that the town itself felt alive in some ways. Like it was a living, breathing organism and the creatures that lived here were it's blood cells and immune system. But that was ridiculous, Alex finally declared after thinking on it too much.

And Alex soon found out that there were others here as well and that they all took refuge in a town hall quite similar to the one in Shepherd's Glen. It was James, Angela, and Cynthia who stayed in this place and Alex thought it was a little fishy that James was alone with two women. James, at first glance, didn't seem to be a bad guy but there was something about him that was impure and all wrong. But were any of these people angels? No.

Angela seemed sweet enough, if not a little imbalanced, but she didn't talk much and when she did it was about finding her mother. Despite Angela being young and innocent looking there was a haunted look in her eyes that suggested differently, like she had a dark secret. Alex had a look like that. He'd acquired it when he left for the army and it was made clear why Angela had that same stare.

But Cynthia was a different story. She didn't look or act innocent and she hardly tried to mask her "charming" (heavy on the air quotes) personality. Cynthia feigned ignorance of her world by calling it a terrible dream but Alex registered it as an excuse to act and dress like a prostitute. It was safe to assume that Cynthia was a woman of loose morals and an even looser... Well... Alex didn't linger on that train of thought long.

The real mystery was James.

*****************

"Can I ask you something?" Alex inquired as he and James stalked down Koontz Street. "Where are we going?"

"Alchemilla Hospital," James answered without looking over at Alex. "We need some supplies."

Alex huffed and gripped the steel pipe in his hands, shivering from cold but unable to see his breath, or anything else for that matter. He'd only been here a couple of days and it was the first time James asked him to tag along or go on a supply run for that matter. It puzzled Alex and it made him think of what Cynthia had said about being in a dream.

"I have another question," Alex said, gaining enough curiosity to have James look over at him this time. "Why does Cynthia think she's in a dream?"

James smirked. "Isn't it obvious why? This place is a nightmare... along with other fundamental things."

"Such as?" Alex posed.

"Are you hungry?" James asked suddenly.

"What?"

Alex was confused and he wondered why James would ask that now. He thought perhaps to change the subject but it seemed James was making point of Cynthia's theory. That this was a nightmare and that everyone just happened to be having the same one. But the odds of that were unlikely, weren't they?

"Are you hungry?" James asked once again.

"Well... no, I guess," Alex said slowly, thinking about it for a moment. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Think about it. You've been here for what? Two days?" James asked rhetorically. "Has your stomach growled once since you've been here?"

"No. But that's only because I'm worried about my brother, Josh. I'm not hungry because food isn't my main priority right now," Alex willfully insisted but James was shaking his head with a smirk.

"That's what you start to tell yourself the first few days but the weeks that follow after can't be explained now, can they?"

They had stopped walking and now they were standing in the middle of the street looking at eachother. Alex was skeptical but James was straight-faced with his mouth in a firm line. It seemed as though James was an expert on this place and it left Alex to wonder just how long the blonde man had been here. Alex felt a chill roll up his spine. He didn't want to be here as long as James has.

"You can't eat. Can't even go to the bathroom, can you?" James continued to say, driving his point home. Whatever his point was, that is. "Think about it, Shepherd."

James began to walk again and Alex stood there dumbfoundedly with his grip loosening on the steel pipe he had as a weapon, puzzling. Was that why Cynthia thought this was a dream? Because the human body was functioning like it would in reality? Why didn't that explain away the fact that everything else was normal? (Well, as normal as it could be).

"Then why are we going to the hospital?" Alex urged with worry.

"For supplies, remember? Medical supplies," James called out still walking down the street and getting further and further away from Alex until his form couldn't be made out.

Alex ran up quickly to James to catch up.

"But why?" Alex pressed, accentuating the word 'why' with an inflection. "Why do we need medical supplies.?"

"For when we get injured."

"But if this is a dream, then how can we get hurt? Why do we sleep? Why do we dream when we sleep?" Alex bombarded skeptically.

James stopped again, same look on his face as before. How many times has James had to give this speech? How many times has he broken it down for the new arrivals? What was James not telling him?

"Don't think about it too hard," James whispered. "Every little detail will become YOU. It'll be your only reality and soon you'll forget all about your brother."

James was standing close to Alex, almost close enough to be intimate, that he could feel a certain warmth about the blonde man. It was funny, he imagined James' aura to be devoid of any humanity but he was wrong. There seemed to be a lot about James that Alex couldn't decipher.

"This place... it is real, isn't it?" Alex questioned with a quiet voice that hardly resembled his actual tone.

"Now that... is the million dollar question, Shepherd." And with that being said, James continued on, getting closer to Alchemilla Hospital. "Come on."

Alex followed close behind, catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye as if it had run out of view of his peripheral vision. He jerked his head in the direction of where he saw it and he wanted to pursue whatever he had seen, but James needed him. Besides, it could've been nothing. It could've anything. It could've been...

"Josh..."

James didn't hear him and, despite wanting to, Alex turned away to help the blonde man budge the heavy double doors open.

*****************

Alex stumbled through the doors after James, panting and wheezing and aching all over his body. He staggered further into the foyer with lead feet, his grip slipping faltering around the midsection of the steel pipe and causing it to fall to the ground with a loud resounding clank. Alex felt dizzy with adrenaline.

James seemed to be unaffected by there plight with some of the hostile locals and Alex wondered if he was even human anymore. James was too used to situations like these and Alex thought it was very admirable of him to stick his neck out for Angela and Cynthia. James was either very brave or very dumb.

Alex wanted to go with the former rather than the latter, but today James had exhibited some of the most unusual behavior. Not only had James stuck his arm into a hole in the wall twice, because the first time he was bitten by something, but he also had the guts to stick his hand into a filthy toilet because he swore something was in it. Afterwards, James didn't even bother washing his hand.

He was a strange man but Alex had a soft spot for James even if he seemed somewhat detached from rational thinking. Alex was sure that if he saw a hole in the wall that he'd reach in too out of curiosity but the whole toilet thing was beyond him. Talk about gross! What was James thinking when he did that anyway?

Alex was splayed out on his back on the ground, staring up at the ceiling and counting all the cracks that had lined it's once beautiful surface. His view, however, had been obscured by James' smiling face when the blonde man decided to bend down and offer Alex a helping hand. Alex took the warm hand and was helped to his feet, thankful that it was James' clean hand.

James led the way to a small room in the west wing of the town hall, letting Alex revel in his confusion and worry. Why weren't they going to the main room where Angela and Cynthia were? Alex had only slept here one night but it had been in the same room as the ladies and it seemed right to assume that was the place James always slept. There were, after all, three little cots on the ground.

Alex didn't question it though. Instead, he followed James and when they reached one of the studies, Alex braced his back against the wall and slid down it restlessly. He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes, wanting to forget the world around him but unable to. He really should've been looking for Josh today. He couldn't imagine how lost and cold Josh might be right now.

What if something bad happened to him?

The soldier groaned in all his displeasure which made James turn to him with an odd little look creasing his subtle features.

"Me too," James said, commenting on Alex's groan.

"Doesn't really seem like it," Alex complained. "You look like you just stayed here all day."

"You eventually get used to it, Shepherd."

"I don't want to get used it, James. I just want to get Josh and leave this damn place," Alex moaned as if he were in pain. "Why do you keep calling me Shepherd anyway? I have a first name like everyone else."

James blushed a deep pink and looked down at his feet as if he was caught with his hand jammed into a cookie jar. Alex found it oddly adorable, smiling and forgetting about his world just a little bit. Just for one tiny, fleeting moment before remembering the grim reality of his situation.

"I'm sorry," James apologized, embarrassed. "Shepherd was my wife's maiden name."

"Small world," Alex said, smiling subtly. "What was her first name?"

"Mary," James said in a far off tone as if he was remembering her from a distant memory that happened ages ago.

"That's a beautiful name. Is that who you're looking for?"

"My wife is dead," James informed grimly, face paling.

"Then why are you here?" Alex inquired, treading on uncertain ground.

"I don't want to talk about it."

James was a very strange man but Alex respected his personal boundaries nonetheless. It was obvious it was a painful subject for James to talk abut and Alex knew he'd be all torn up about it too if it were him, so he backed off a little to give James some breathing room. But despite leaving James alone it seemed to be the opposite of what the blonde man wanted.

James set down the supplies and walked over to where Alex was sitting with his back against the wall and sat down beside him, making sure they were close enough to be touching. Shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip. Alex quickly identified this an intimate gesture for comfort and without being prompted to, Alex slung an arm around James' shoulders.

Alex pulled James into his side ever so slightly and the other man rested his head on Alex's shoulder, closing his eyes. It felt nice holding someone, comforting them, and Alex wished it could be Josh instead of James but he figured this was just as good. Beggars couldn't be choosers in this town and if there was the faintest sliver of comfort you could expect anyone to jump on it no matter who it was.

James needed Alex and Alex needed James, if only for one brief moment.


End file.
